Louise Aberg
Subscribe to Louise Aberg's PostsLouise Aberg focuses her practice on US, EU and French antitrust law, including merger control, cartels, and abuse of dominance. Louise also regularly advises clients in relation to distribution strategies and compliance programs. She represents clients before the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, the European Commission, and the French Competition Authority. Read Louise Aberg's full bio.
2019 in Review: Overview of Cartel Investigations
By Anthony S. Ferrara, Louise Aberg and Paul M. Thompson on Mar 18, 2020
Posted In Cartel Enforcement, DOJ Developments, EC Developments, EU Developments, Private Litigation
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) was active in 2019. At the beginning of 2019, the DOJ was preparing for trial in six matters and had 91 pending grand jury investigations. Throughout 2019, the DOJ made public several new investigations, including in the commercial flooring industry, online auctions for surplus government equipment, the insulation...
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Cartel Snapshot: Mid-Year Update
By McDermott Will & Emery and Louise Aberg on Jun 13, 2019
Posted In Cartel Enforcement, DOJ Developments, EC Developments, EU Developments
2019 MID-YEAR UPDATE The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division announced three new investigations and several developments in its other investigations, including new investigations in the commercial flooring industry, online auctions for surplus government equipment and insulation installation contracts. The Antitrust Division also released its Spring 2019 Division Update, which notes that the Division “is preparing...
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Cartel Snapshot: February 2019
By McDermott Will & Emery and Louise Aberg on Feb 28, 2019
Posted In Cartel Enforcement, DOJ Developments, EC Developments, EU Developments, Joint Ventures/Competitor Collaboration
Q4 UPDATE: OVERVIEW OF CARTEL INVESTIGATIONS Although 2018 saw guilty pleas and new indictments in several ongoing Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations, the year finished by continuing a downward trend in antitrust enforcement. DOJ’s criminal and civil fines in 2018 ended around $400 million—well short of the billion-dollar plus highs in 2014 and 2015, during...
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Cartel Snapshot: The Latest on Active Antitrust Investigations
By McDermott Will & Emery and Louise Aberg on Nov 9, 2018
Posted In Cartel Enforcement, DOJ Developments, EC Developments, EU Developments
Overview of Current Cartel Investigations Although the third quarter of 2018 saw guilty pleas and new indictments in several current Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations, 2018 continues a downward trend in antitrust enforcement. At its current pace, DOJ’s annual 2018 fines will end around $300 million—well short of the billion-dollar plus highs in 2014 and...
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THE LATEST: Collateral Risk in Merger Reviews
By Gregory E. Heltzer and Louise Aberg on Jul 30, 2018
Posted In DOJ Developments, Mergers & Acquisitions
WHAT HAPPENED The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently investigating whether advertising sales teams for competing television station owners engaged in anticompetitive conduct regarding communications on performance levels. Per the Journal’s reporting: DOJ is investigating whether the purported communications led to higher rates for...
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THE LATEST: FTC to Look Closely at Competition between Biologics and Biosimilars and Patent Protection Strategies of Branded Manufacturers
By Louise Aberg and Will Diaz on Jul 24, 2018
Posted In FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust, IP Antitrust
WHAT HAPPENED On July 18, 2018, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb delivered a speech at The Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, discussing how to bolster competition from biosimilars while maintaining innovation. The Commissioner noted the absence of true competition among biologics from biosimilar products in the United States, similarly to what...
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Cartel Snapshot
By McDermott Will & Emery and Louise Aberg on Jun 27, 2018
Posted In Cartel Enforcement, DOJ Developments, EC Developments, EU Developments
The second quarter of 2018 proved to be an active one with a number of US Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations resulting in criminal charges against individual executives. However, the DOJ’s total criminal fines still fall below the highs reached in 2014 and 2015. In this period, the European Commission made one notable cartel decision,...
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THE LATEST: Integra Forced to Divest Neurosurgical Tools to Gain FTC Clearance
By Gregory E. Heltzer and Louise Aberg on Oct 2, 2017
Posted In FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust, IP Antitrust, Mergers & Acquisitions
WHAT HAPPENED On February 14, 2017, Integra agreed to purchase Johnson & Johnson’s Codman neurosurgery business (excluding Codman’s neurovascular and drug deliver businesses) for $1.045 billion. Seven months later, on September 25, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) agreed to clear the transaction subject to the parties divesting five neurosurgical tools and associated assets including...
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Senate Democrats Push for Tougher Merger Enforcement
By Gregory E. Heltzer, Louise Aberg and Lisa A. Peterson on Sep 18, 2017
Posted In DOJ Developments, FTC Developments, Mergers & Acquisitions
On September 14, 2017, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), introduced new legislation to curtail market concentration and enhance antitrust scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions. As the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, Klobuchar is the leading Senate Democrat for antitrust issues. Two bills were submitted to the...
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Implementation of the European Union Directive on Antitrust Damages Actions into French Law
By Louise Aberg and McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 6, 2017
Posted In EU Developments, French Developments, Private Litigation
On 10 March 2017, France finally implemented into French law the EU Directive 2014/104 of 26 November 2014 on antitrust damages actions. The implementation provisions faithfully transpose the Directive, but some concepts still, however, need to be clarified by courts at the EU and French levels. Read the full article.
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